<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>early mornings by jabamis</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29649456">early mornings</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jabamis/pseuds/jabamis'>jabamis</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:20:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,813</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29649456</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jabamis/pseuds/jabamis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren had got to thinking, then, about the nature of their relationship. He was surprised to discover that he had no intentions of dating someone either for the same reasons— it was Mikasa and Armin by his side since he could remember, and he saw no reason for that to change now.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Armin Arlert/Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman/Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackerman/Armin Arlert/Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman/Eren Yeager</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>154</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>early mornings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this is what happens when a girl doesn't know the different between platonic and romantic affection: just combine them, of course<br/>this was written kind of as eremin week day 5: unlikely combinations, but i won't tag it like that because it's, well, not just <i>eremin</i></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mikasa, for all her grace and glory, makes far too much noise in the morning. She insists on getting up the moment daylight begins to filter through the blinds, not caring if it’s a Saturday like today or not, to go for a run. Her alarm wakes both Eren and Armin up— the former usually groans and sits up to wave her off, while the latter simply shoves a pillow over his head and carries on with his slumber. Then she’ll roll out of their shared king bed and pull on her workout clothes, haphazardly pinning parts of her hair back. As usual, Eren stares her down as best as he can with his vision blurry with sleep as she pulls the shirt over her head. “Do you really have to? Why can’t you just go later like someone who isn’t insane?”</p><p>“It’s refreshing,” she replies calmly, as she always does, hunting for her headphones. “If I do it now, it gets me ready for the rest of the day, and I won’t have to interrupt anything else.”</p><p>“Interrupt what? It’s the weekend.”</p><p>At that, she pauses, glancing over at Eren with a cool expression as if it were obvious. “Well, you two aren’t busy today, right?” There was a twinge of worry in her voice, one that nobody besides Eren and Armin would have picked up on, concerned that perhaps she'd thought wrong. “I thought we could just spend time together.”</p><p>Armin mumbles softly in his sleep then, the covers he's bundled in shifting slightly, even if his actual figure is nowhere to be seen with how deeply he had burrowed himself into the sheets. Mikasa’s mouth twitches upward and she glances down affectionately.</p><p>“I’m not busy,” Eren responds, eyes locked on the lump in the bed that was Armin as well. “And I don’t think he is, either. What did you have in mind?”</p><p>“We’ll play it by ear like we usually do. Do you think he’ll be awake in about an hour? I can run past McDonald’s or something on the way home.”</p><p>Armin has the awful habit of staying up into the late hours of the night. It was a miracle he even came back to bed in the first place— he never used to, always fretful that he’d wake the other two up, but they’d rather rise momentarily to know he was there instead of on their creaky old couch. He needed to catch up on sleep, but he also needed to eat, and Eren weighs the two options carefully. “...He’ll be up. At least for that, but then he’ll probably fall asleep again, but he’d appreciate it.”</p><p>“Alright,” Mikasa hums, snagging her wallet from their dresser. She moves swiftly towards Eren’s side of the bed and kissed him on the forehead. He’s never sure if he’ll get used to that. Mikasa has always been affectionate but in her own way— in the past, she'd been far more subtle. It wasn’t an unwelcome change by any means. “I’ll see you later.” She doesn’t even have to ask for their orders. She’s out of the bedroom before Eren can even tell her to be safe, even though he knows that anyone that tries to harm Mikasa would be hurt tenfold. He doesn’t have to worry, but he still does. Occasionally he thinks he should go with her but he’d only slow her down, and, of course, there was the tiredness that permeated his muscles.</p><p>Armin shifts again, revealing a mop of messy blonde hair, now holding the pillow instead of lying underneath it. Eren smiles slightly. Though sometimes embarrassed about it, Armin was a cuddler, oftentimes squirming his way in between Eren and Mikasa at night so he could hold onto them both. He’s cold a lot of the time, but neither of them can ever bring themselves to care. Carefully, Eren reaches over and combs his fingers through his hair once, twice. Right now, at least, he’s warm with sleep.</p><p>Eren often wonders how he got to this point. It had occurred as naturally as breathing for them to go to college together and get an apartment together, which was typical of many close friends. The different part, however, was that only one of the three bedrooms in their home had people sleeping in them. It just felt right, safe, for them to be close to one another. Originally, it wasn't something that they'd talked about— it was something that just <i>was</i>. He supposes they’d always been more affectionate than most friends, but he thinks some of their actions breach those lines of friendship that have always been blurred, flying straight through the line between platonic and romantic.</p><p>Of course, it couldn't stay unaddressed forever. One day, Eren had watched Mikasa politely turn down a man that was in line behind her while he was waiting for her to bring their coffee orders back to the table. He’d asked why— Mikasa was beautiful, and he knew she had to be asked out frequently, but he'd never seen her go on a date.</p><p>“I have you and Armin,” she’d said, matter-of-factly.</p><p>“You know, you don’t have to look out for us all the time if it’s holding you back from things,” Eren retorted.</p><p>Mikasa had been silent for several moments as she sipped her atrociously black coffee. “Not quite what I meant,” she'd said, looking away as if slightly embarrassed. “But that too, whether you can take care of yourselves or not. I'm always going to look out for you.”</p><p>Eren had got to thinking, then, about the nature of their relationship. He was surprised to discover that he had no intentions of dating someone either for the same reasons— it was Mikasa and Armin by his side since he could remember, and he saw no reason for that to change now. He found a kind of comfort in them and tenderness for them, different than the kind of care he felt towards his other friends. He’d fretted over the realization he was in love with not just his best friend, but best friends <i>plural</i>, frantic over the idea that he’d have to choose. But Mikasa hadn’t seemed to feel that way at all.</p><p>He’d confessed this to Armin, who had initially flushed bright red, but remained silent and thoughtful for several minutes before he finally spoke, choosing his words carefully. “I feel the same," he'd admitted. "If I'm being honest, I don't see myself with anyone either than you two. But both of you. If both of you aren't with me, it would feel wrong. Why should I have to choose?”</p><p>It sounded so simple when he said it like that. After a long conversation between the three of them, the air was clear and they all understood the weight they had in each other's lives and, apparently, relationship. It’d formed right under their noses because of how sincere it was; the label hadn’t mattered. That wasn’t to say there weren’t issues— it was hard to arrange times where they could all be together at the same time with school and work happening, and Armin in particular would often get anxious about his place in the relationship, worried that he wasn’t worth as much to them. However, it was something that had carried over from their friendship and wasn’t an issue specific to the relationship aspect of their bond. He was becoming less and less anxious now, but there were moments, but that was just to be expected— they'd work through them all, just as they had with every other issue they'd faced together before.</p><p>Suddenly, Eren feels a hand grasp his wrist. He jerks slightly— he hadn’t realized he'd zoned out so badly. Armin was smiling softly, eyes still shut but wrinkling at the corners. “You’re going to make my bedhead worse,” he says, voice low and tired.</p><p>Eren grins but doesn't stop running his fingers through the soft strands. “The idea was to fix it. How are you feeling?”</p><p>Armin hums softly in thought before swatting away Eren's hand and sitting up slowly, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. “Tired. As expected.”</p><p>“You need to fall asleep earlier,” Eren says, already knowing the suggestion would fall on deaf ears.</p><p>“Shut up,” Armin replies immediately, pulling his hands back and meeting Eren’s gaze with dazed eyes. “Did Mikasa already leave?”</p><p>“Yeah. She’ll be back in half an hour or so. She’s bringing back food.” Gently, he started to coax Armin over so the smaller boy could sit in his lap. He went willingly, shifting over so he was chest to chest with Eren, wrapping his arms around Eren’s back.</p><p>“That’s very nice of her,” he says softly as Eren gently slid his hand up Armin’s shirt to scratch gently at his back. “The most important thing I got out of that sentence, though, is that there’s still a half an hour before she gets back. Why are we awake then?” Armin pushes gently at Eren’s shoulders to get him to lay back, and he goes willingly, efficiently wrapping his arms around Armin’s waist to shift him slightly to the side and keep him close.</p><p>He was all too willing, especially when Armin kissed his jawline softly and snuggled into the crook of his neck. It was like an instant fix. Eren’s eyes got heavy and then closed, drifting off into a peaceful sleep once more.</p>
<hr/><p>Until, of course, Mikasa made her presence known again. The front door opened and closed heavily and there was a crinkling of paper bags in the kitchen before she appeared in the bedroom, throwing herself down on the bed without a second thought. Eren swore and Armin shrieked, sitting up so fast he almost collided heads with Mikasa, who had her arms thrown over the both of them.</p><p>“Did you even shower yet?” Armin wailed, and when Mikasa didn't answer, cried out in despair, “Gross. Now we have to wash the sheets. Ugh.”</p><p>“That’s not any way to talk to somebody who got you pancakes,” she said simply, only tightening her hold on the two of them. Armin fell silent at that, reluctantly conceding to the point, but he still pushed her gently until she rolled off of them.</p><p>“Thanks,” he sighed. “But I’ve got to eat them before they get <i>cold</i>.” He stood and made his way out of the room and Mikasa laughed slightly, tugging on Eren's arm to bring him with her.</p><p>Eren can only wonder how he got so lucky. Perhaps the way they did things was different than most people, being a trio instead of a pair, but he can't find anything wrong with it if they got to be as happy as this. People could say what they wanted, but he knew that he had two soulmates, and he wanted both of them.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>